accelerometer

There's really not much to the Windows Phone 8 app Accelerometer Toy but still, it does a nice job of things. It's a utility app of sorts that simply demonstrates your Windows Phone accelerometer in action.

Accelerometer Toy does so in two ways. First you have the Readings Page that displays the X, Y, and Z axes and the associated readings that illustrates the Windows Phone's current orientation. The axis readings spin about like a Tasmanian Devil but there is a stop button in the lower right corner should you need to stop things should you need to get an easy to read value.

A good developer will add this option to their app: disable accelerometer. We've seen it in some Twitter apps and even our own WPCentral app has a "lock portrait view" option. Still, there are times when you want to do this globally because perhaps you can't sleep and want to use your phone while lying on your side in bed--hey, it's your world!

In that case, Windows Phone Hacker has provided a neat homebrew tool that disables the accelerometer on a global but temporary basis--great for those odd moments when you just don't want the phone rotating your apps.

That's the good news. The bad news is this is only for interop-unlocked Samsung and LG devices, meaning if you're on HTC or Nokia, you're left in the cold. Plus, you'll have to reboot your phone in order to gain back the accelerometer functionality, suggesting this isn't as elegant as we'd like it (but that's not the fault of WPH, who did what they could).

For those of you interested, you can grab the app here at Windows Phone Hacker to side load. Remember, only Gen 1 Samsung and LG devices can use this app. Finally, check our all the other homebrew Windows Phone apps here: wpcentral.com/tags/homebrewThanks, Carlos, for the tip!

Recently at TechEd 10, Brandon Watson and Peter Torr discussed Windows Phone 7 development on Channel 9. You can watch the whole thing here, though suffice to say it's not the most exciting video nor does it shed too much more new info.

However, it was noted by Mobility Digest that there won't be any Gyroscope support for WP7, at least not right now. The new iPhone 4 has an electronic gyroscope which is supposed to be more sensitive than just an accelerometer. When combined, it should give the phone a more stable and accurate portrayal of its location in three dimensions. Why would that be important? For the growing area of "augmented reality" programs. Sure the accelerometer will help there too, but the gyroscope is even better.

In Microsoft's defense, we can see this as not being a top priority, so we'll allow this one to slide for future updates.

Chances are you're doing more with your Touch Diamond's (or Touch Pro's) G-sensor (accelerometer) than just switching back and forth between portrait and landscape mode.

But if you need a little help, wmpoweruser has complied a decent list of applications, including games and utilities.

Most of the app links head over to the giants at XDA developers. Included are the ubiquitous Lightsaber app, Lunar Tilt (seen at right), Diamond beer, Magic 8 Ball, and utilities such as BubbleLevel, G-Remote G-Mouse (as seen on WM Experts!), G-Alarm and a host of others.